Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Eli's mom visited this week to help Teresa unpack who recently moved to Dallas. Aidan is such a cutie and getting huge at 3 months old! Babies really do grow up fast; he's already swatting at toys and rolling over. Emily played well with him and of course stole all this toys (thank goodness he's sweet and doesn't mind). We helped to put up shelves and organize stuff, and by the time we left we had made a pretty big dent in the process.

Sheri spent that night and the next day with us at our place. We excitedly watched Sarah Palin's speech (what a woman, huh) and then next day we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. Emily wasn't as enthralled as I anticipated, but Sheri and I sure were! I wish I had pictures, but that morning I put our camera through the washer. OOPS! Surprisingly I took some pieces apart and got it back up and running again. The Zoo was almost completely shaded, which made for a pleasant day. The coolest exhibit to me was the apes--they had indoor caves with windows that we could stand up against. Not only are they huge with scary eyes, but their hands and feet are gigantic. Emily was her usual observant self, never missing a beat, but wasn't scared! For those of you who don't know Emily, let me tell you, this is progress for her! There were months when I couldn't turn on the blender, garbage disposal, even washing machine without a fit. Not to mention she was/is a "stage 5 clinger" and now will let grandma hold her!!! This is so exciting to me...not only that she recognizes grandma, but that her severe stranger anxiety is weakening (hopefully!).

We went the Hartman/Kern wedding on Saturday night at the Dallas Arboretum and it was so beautiful with the sun setting over White Rock Lake. The venue was almost like a scene out of the Great Gatsby--white tents and romantic music. Afterwards we ran to Rachel's going away party (she's moving to Brussels for Grad school) and shot over to Greenville for the wedding after party. Sweet Aunt Mary babysat Emily for us!

Emily has been busy lately sprouting new teeth and cruising. So far that makes one and a half teeth, but she uses them to her advantage (i.e. biting mom ferociously when she is not allowed to eat her cell phone or computer). We can already tell she will be very determined and motivated in life. Another new trick this week is pulling herself up to stand in the crib. Yes, it's so cute to see her standing up after waking up from a nap. Not so cute when she decides not to nap in 2 days because she loves to stand up, but doesn't know how to sit down. We're still trying to get her to sleep through the night, but are slowly accepting that she's just not one of those kiddos. Click here to understand why not.

Oh and other news!! I am thrilled to announce that Olivia and Marty are having a girl!! Just when I was worried about Emily getting outnumbered by her 3 boy cousins...

Also my Uncle Will and Aunt Jacquie are having another baby!! They too have 2 boys, so we cant wait to find out what they're having next!

Labor Day Weekend

We love holidays, especially those which honor the continuous hard work of Americans to make our country so wonderful. We had a very productive and fun weekend that just flew by. On Friday night we had dinner with my school teacher friend Melanie and her mom. She had just finished the first week of school...I miss teaching! My sweet little kindergarteners are now in 2nd grade and I still think about them all the time:) Anyway the last time we were at her house I was still pregnant with Emily and we played taboo so loudly that the lights hooked up to the clapper flashed on and off a million times. On Saturday we ran errands as a family and that night I went out with my girlfriends--always a fun time!

Sunday was Mary Clare's birthday so we celebrated with all the UD cousins over at Lauren's. Mass then lunch then ladderball. School's about to start so kids were moving in and the freshmen were getting nervous. Those were the days...you just don't realize how good you have it until it's over!

Monday we went to the neighborhood pool which was awesome. There's a zero entry pool that Emily could crawl into and tons of fountains that she loved. Eli and I loved the enormous waterslides and visiting with the McBrides. Yay for 4 day weeks!!!

Emily loves to read!

Mary Moves to Dallas!

Mary Clare was just born ready to be in college...and now it seems like time sped by! She's the 4th Harkins to be at UD too. It must be strange to my parents to have more kids living out of the house than in--and half in Dallas at that! This year at UD there will be 5 Fagan-cousins, and more in the area, which will make our family days so much more fun!

We had a nice dinner on Saturday night when everyone arrived and afterwards Emily opened her birthday presents from Nana and Grandaddy. On top of some clothes, she got a cool table that has interchangeable discs that have all sorts of buttons and switches to push that light up and sing. It's perfect for her because she needs to work on pulling herself up and it's just the right height. Nona gave her a cute little piano which she loves too. It plays tons of kids songs and the keys light up. Aunt Mary gave her some Mother Goose and Spot books that, of course, she wont let me read to her but she likes to chew on them.
Yay size 1 shoes fit!

On Sunday after mass we went to a cajun restuarant for food "so good you'll slap your momma." It reminded me of good ol Mississippi cooking...mmmm.

I think Elil's holding up something spicy (hence the spicy face) Newyly adopted sister Amanda

Last week Emily spent most of her time crawling around the whole house. She's pretty quick these days and loves to eat every speck off the ground. I think she's also trying to compete with Eli and I on eating...she seriously never stops (and neither to her diapers!) and she finally has cut her first tooth on the bottom. Yesterday she had her 12 month checkup. She weighs 15.5 lbs and is 27" long. She grew 3 inches in 3 months but hasn't put on much weight, probably because she never stays still! We need your prayers on one more medical issue that's come up, and are hoping to avoid surgery, especially since she's due for surgery next year on her hemangioma. After a lot of research on all the medications Emily has taken, Eli and I have developed a "wait and see" attitude combined with more of a natural remedies solution as opposed to commercial drugs. I think we've had some bad luck with the meds (one has been recalled, and most other gave her severe reactions).

We had a playdate at the arboretum this week and enjoyed one of the last $1 days. Rebecca and Sophia joined us and we had a blast! We will definately have to come back very soon.

We fed the fish bread...Emily just wanted to eat it herself!
Standing up all by herself!

Isn't Sophia adorable!? She's such a sweetie.

Busy playing in the fountain

Emily learns to crawl

You know how everyone always says "oh enjoy your baby when she cant go anywhere!" or "you'll be sorry you wished she could crawl!". Well I think I can honestly say that my life is much easier and Emily's life is much happier now that she is mobile. Just imagine a baby with a very active mind who wants to get into everything but is stuck. For awhile Emily wouldn't let me put her down...she needed me to take her around to explore. Now that she can move, she can entertain herself for like 10 minutes at a time! It's so fun watching her slowly inch herself across the room!
We’ve had a bit of bad luck with our cars lately. Early in the week someone tried to steal our car. They were unsuccessful (thank goodness!!!) but ended up breaking the window and ripping out the steering column, which cost $1000 to repair. It turned out to be a big hassle trying to get it towed to the car shop. The first tow truck guy ripped off the bumper, harassed me, tried to charge me $50 to put it back on, and when I said no he unloaded the car and crashed into it and fled the scene. This was after Emily and I stood out in the 100 degree heat for 3 hours (poor little baby). So the cops were called and another tow truck came, but couldn’t get the car loaded because of the position it was in from the first tow truck. So finally everything was worked out with the 3rd tow truck that night. I enjoyed driving Eli to work in the mornings—30 minutes of time to do nothing but talk! It was great!
We had a pretty full weekend--we are trying to find more free things to do in Dallas so I can get out of the house. As much as I love being home with Emily, I still find myself overwhelmed when I don’t talk to or see anyone besides Eli for days. I go to mass everyday and try to take Emily to the park too, but there aren't too many moms my age with a baby who stay at home and don’t have grandma at their fingertips. I imagine things will change when Eli can spend more time with us after he graduates in December! Yay! Anyway so we went to run on the Katy Trail in Dallas on Saturday and went to visit Anne afterwards. On Sunday after mass, Lauren had us over to her new apartment for a BBQ. Old mill hasn’t changed much except that they painted the exterior. Quite a trip down memory lane--we could remember all the apartments of our friends and all the good times we'd had on the circus (more or less the courtyard). Later on we went to the mall Grapevine Mills and walked around Old Town Grapevine. Pretty cool...lots of wine tasting shops and boutiques.
Both Emily and Eli are sick with a cold/bronchitis/strep. Eli went to the doctor yesterday and is on antibiotics and stayed home from work. Emily as usual is having a hard time sleeping and I don’t think she's fully adjusted to being back from vacation. She's been waking up at least 3 times in the middle of the night to nurse. Although she's been taking 2 pretty good naps everyday so I cant complain! :)

A Year of Miracles

It's hard to believe that Emily turned 1 year old on Monday! Looking back over this crazy year, there are so many of God's blessings for which to be thankful. At the time we were in robot mode, trying not to think about little things like how Eli was unemployed 2 weeks before Emily was born, or how our car broke down and we had to buy a new one the day she came home from the hospital. We probably wouldn't have survived the crisis without the support and prayers from everyone, and the extreme dedication of the doctors, nurses, and therapists. Emily is certainly the bravest little girl who even today is quite the fighter. She is truly an inspiration to us all! Here's a list of just a few things she's gone through in her short life:
-82 days of hospitalization
-heart surgery to repair the hole in her heart (after 5 rounds of intense medication which failed)
-100s of apneas and bradycardias (when her heart rate would slow drastically and she would stop breathing, many times turning blue in our helpless arms)
-living hooked up to an IV, a heart rate monitor, an oxygen monitor, an arterial line, a feeding tube, a respirator to a CPAP to nasal cannula, in a temperature regulated glass box
-severe acid reflux which burned a hole in her esophagus
-phototherapy treatment for jaundice
-respiratory distress syndrome (she had synagis shots to avoid rsv)
-Spastic diplegia (she continues to have occupational therapy each week and is improving!!!)
-eczema, allergies, staff infections, etc.

We are happy to report that Emily is just about as healthy as can be and can almost CRAWL! She still needs surgery on her arm in the next year, but is currently taking no oral medications and is all in all a typical adorable baby. Talk about a miracle:)


No bigger than a dollar bill



On her birthday we had a little dinner for her with some family (Aunt Lauren, Aunt Teresa, Uncle Kyle, cousin Aidan). She got to try cake for the first time and loved it!





Yummy!





She was crying because she thought we were taking away her new toy!



Now she's happy and trying to figure out how it works



Very stylish big girl clothes from Uncle Kyle and Aunt Teresa





Favorite Touch and Feel Books






Aidan is getting so big!



Playdate with Matty at the park